Author: countrylovingblog

This has been probably the hardest blog post.. trying to string the words together has been difficult and I can’t believe in 2017 it’s still something no one can talk about. Mental health will have affected nearly everyone over their life span, some are just unlucky that they deal with it a lot younger than others. My personally experience with mental heath has been a battle I fight everyday since I was around 13. (But let’s not get into that!)

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Farmers around the world have been dealing with mental heath issues, such as depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts so why aren’t we doing anything to help? The financial struggle for some farmers is enough to pack it all in after years of hard work.

Lots of farmers feel that there isn’t anyone to talk to and/or no one will understand, as farmers do have a lot of people depending on them, especially kids who live on the farm at home with parents getting a bit older and not being able to do as much as they used too.

Over the last few years mental health has been something which is getting easier to talk about and get support for, but for a lot of people, young or old it’s not enough. Action needs to be taken. I would like some of my followers and lovely reads to just take the time and reach out to a friend that is maybe having a bad time at the moment and help them.

I’m offering myself to anyone who needs help or just a chat to make the day easier! My inbox will be checked my regularly and I will always reply, no matter what time or day.

I am also raising money for a mental health charity called Visyon which is based in Cheshire.

So my lovelies, today I completed my first morning and evening shift milking! I’ve never milked before so it was a bit scary for me, coming from a beef background I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into! But i can actually say it was such a good experience!

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My morning started with pushing the cows up into the collecting yard, then running them into the parlour. Once in, the cows udders were cleaned and the unit was put on. ( I never realised how heavy they are!) when the cow was dry, the unit would come off and clean the udders again and then ran through a foot bath which helps prevent lameness.

After being kicked, pooped and wee’ed on, the morning was done and I spend most of the day in front of the telly ( after I helped feed the pigs )

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The evening shift when a lot bette with no injuries and no mess ( well, no mess on me anyways!) the cows did the same as the morning and it perfect!

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Milk from cows on antibiotics was milked from the cow into a different tank and was thrown straight down the drains! I can’t stress this enough; the milk is never consumed by humans! Watching the milk been thrown away it really makes you think about a lot of dairy farms that are going out of business because of the supermarkets and it’s poor pay.

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The whole day was so enjoyable and I would encourage everyone who wants to give it a go, to do it! You’ll love it!

Finally moved all my things from home and Wales and have officially all moved into my new accommodation for the next year. Beautiful Chetwood, within Reaseheath College. I’m so excited to be going forwards in my degree and so proud of myself. My room is looking so homely, fairy lights everywhere, 100s of throws and covers and all my pictures covering the walls and doors.

Met all the wonderful people on the course for this year and they all seem lovely and a good variety of girls and boys, farming background or something new. everyone is so welcoming and I can really see this as my new home. Ive been quite lucky in which I’ve been offered a few jobs around my uni, which is real confidence booster! When to an interview yesterday for one of the bars in Nantwich, which was really nice! and I’ve bagged myself 2 trial shifts this weekend. So excited!

Moving here has been the best thing that has ever happened to me, loving life and can’t wait for the rest of the year!

As we all know getting into farming is an impossible task, especially when you’re not from a farming background. I’ve grown up in Bedfordshire, quite town-like, not much farm land, but I have family who live in north Wales, who have their own farm and I’ve always been up to help, during lambing, TB testing and everything in between. I’m very hands on and have been since I was very young ( I lambed my first ewe on my own when I was 5) so I’m not fussy about getting down and dirty. Since I’ve been able to talk, I’ve always wanted to do something with animals and farming, once I left middle school, I started my high school, which had a farm on site and we was able to take it as a option. Most people chose art and history, I took triple farm, so I could spend most of my days there. I absolutely loved it.

For a girl to be on the farm, even only a few years ago it was very odd. All of my other classmate were boys, which meant I always had to work harder and prove myself, which i did, time and time again. From difficult lambing, ill piglets, aggressive chickens, everything. Being only 14 and knowing what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, came when I was in those lessons.

Once I finished school, I went on and did agriculture at college which was really eye-opening, more girls in my class made it so much better (still there was only 7 of us), I was still very hands on and work harder on the academic side as I wasn’t very good at that. Over the 2 years at college, I learnt so much which then encouraged me to apply for university. Getting into uni, showed me the if you apply yourself and something you love, you’ll receive. I work my arse off, to be in those lessons, but it was quite daunting as everyone else was from a farm and I came from a semi detached house in Bedford, which meant I had to prove myself once again, it’s hard when you feel very alone and not many people understanding why? Farming is a very alone job in itself, and I do enjoy animal company over human, but not having anyone is worst..

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I’m now moving back to uni, in the next few days, for my second year and I’m so proud of where I’ve come from. I’m happy and excited for the future

Next step; finding some land to rent/buy with my partner so I can finally live the dream. I’m so lucky to have someone who wants the same dream. Onwards and upwards my old mucker!

As not a lot of people know, I’ve been diagnosed with dyslexia while at uni, meaning exams and assignments have been hard for me. I’ve tired to do my theory since I was 18 (was too busy working at 17 to even think about it!) and I would always fail but 1 or 2 marks which really affected my confidences. My exams at uni didn’t go to plan either, failing by 1 mark (luckily I didn’t fail to much!) but today, at the age of 19, I have finally passed my theory! I’m extremely proud of myself and so glad I didn’t give up!

Now I can focus on the actual driving part! Hopefully I’ll find that part a lot easier as I’ve been driving lots of different tractors, farm trucks and quads growing up and have a basic understanding of driving.

So recently, I purchased a Sporting Hares, Collection Hat which is waterproof. The hat sits lovely on my head ( I look very odd in some hats, but this makes me look normal!) The hat is soft to the touch and comes in a lovely dark blue with the signature Sporting Hares written across the middle. The hat also comes with an adjustable clip to make the hat smaller or bigger.

Final thoughts on the hat, it’s definitely worth a buy to still look fabulous on those bad hair days!

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I also purchased some wellie toppers from Hurd & Co, the lovely hand knitted toppers come in 3 colours; white, cream and oatmeal. I purchased the oatmeal colour as it looks the best with my Chameau’s. The topper comes hand made, with the logo on the front, very stretchy (if you have fat legs like me, you’ll be happy to know the toppers fit!) The toppers are so cute and I will definitely be purchasing more from this company! Watch this space!

I’m having/had the best week with my partner at his home in Staffordshire. Seeing the cows every morning and having such amazing views from every window, really makes me more excited about moving up here in a year or two! I’ve definitely been born loving the country, much to my mothers disgust.. (she’s a townie through and through) just something about the cold morning wind that really makes me feel at home and the fact I can have cow cuddles whenever is also a massive bonus!

Most people would of liked to go on holiday during the summer but being here is so much better! Passing 20 tractors a day, all on harvest and silage, trying to get the most out of the dry weather. Also my partner doesn’t have a lot of ground of his own, he works for lots of farmers in the area, so he’s pretty busy all the time, helping them and also working for his own business in Plumbing. So being able to spend almost a whole week together has been amazing!

Places to visit if you’re from staffs;

Oatcakes and Milkshakes– literally the best milkshakes I’ve ever had! As I’m a massive lover of chocolate and all things sweet, I would definitely recommend to my fellow chocoholic!

Flip out Stoke– flip out is a massive indoor trampoline place, with foam pits! It just showed how unfit me and my partner are but it’s will still a laugh (especially when I got stuck in the foam and the little kids was showing me up but doing cool flips )

Cheshire Oaks– my heaven! All my favourite shops (Joules, Barbour, Mulberry etc) all in one place with massive discounts on the retail price! I’ve picked up a cute shirt from joules, new trainers from Vans, a pull over from Crew Clothing, shirt from Barbour, hoodie from Superdry and some new boots from Dorothy Perkins.

We also made an appearance at the young farmers my partner goes too. It was a really fun night, doing an auction and trying to work out how much everything cost, but there is no visit to young farmers without a pub trip afterwards!

It’s been so lovely to be with him again. Just can’t wait to be moving back to Uni 22 days in counting!

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Next Adventure

Moving back to University on 17th of September and I’m so excited! I’ll be living in lovely Nantwich, Cheshire, surrounded by fields of sheep and dairy cows, what more could I ask for?

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Little Bit About Me

I’m Mali, 19, sheep addicted student. A fun loving, very hard working girl. You’ll always find me either in the lambing shed or in the field. I’m so lucky to have amazing people around me and help me with everything.

I will be blogging about everything from clothing and shoes to what’s going on with farming and what parts I actually understand and how it will affect young people in agriculture.